One Rockies fan's perspective

Colorado Rockies Week 12 Review: June 22-28

It was all smiles for Nolan Arenado this week.Photo Credit: Lachlan Cunningham – Getty Images North America

Welcome to The Nolan Arenado Show/Colorado Rockies week 12 review. As far as the team is concerned, it was a pretty mediocre week, as they won a series at home and lost a series at home, ultimately resulting in a 3-3 record for the week. It’s really a shame that the team doesn’t have a better record than 33-42, because Arenado would be squarely in the MVP discussion if they did. If Arenado continues the pace he’s on for the rest of the season, he will finish with 52 home runs, 147 RBI, and 32 defensive runs saved. What we’re all watching right now is what happens when a highly touted prospect realizes his full potential. The scary thing (for Rockies opponents, at least) is that the 24-year old Arenado is still young and has room to grow. Let’s take a look at week 12 for Arenado and the Rockies.

The Rockies got off to a solid start this week as they took two out of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks. They came within three outs of a sweep, but closer John Axford suffered his first blown save of the season in game two of the series, and the club instead had to settle for two of three. There were really no notable pitching performances in the series, but Wilin Rosario and Arenado were able to do the heavy lifting to secure two wins. Rosario went 7-for-11 with a home run and three RBI in the series while Arenado hit three home runs. The rubber game of the series also featured a clutch pinch-hit home run from Troy Tulowitzki, the first pinch-hit home run of his career. The homer tied the game, 2-2, in the eighth inning of an eventual 6-4 Rockies win. Taking the series hopefully gave the Rockies some much needed confidence as they headed to San Francisco for the first three in a 10-game road trip.

The Giants series started out on a very positive note for the Rockies. They showed no ill-effects from the Coors Hangover as they scored eight runs thanks to five hits from Carlos Gonzalez and two more Arenado home runs in an 8-6 win. The rest of the series, unfortunately, was not quite as pleasant for Rockies fans. In the second game of the series, the Rockies led 3-0 and 5-3 before eventually losing, 7-5, thanks in large part to three unearned runs and shaky performance from the bullpen as Rafael Betancourt allowed two runs in just a third of an inning. The series finale was Déjà vu all over again as the Rockies jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on yet another Arenado home run before squandering it in an eventual 6-3 loss.

Starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick allowed five earned runs in five and two thirds innings and served up two more home runs to move his league-leading total to 23. He already has the most games allowing two or more home runs for the Rockies since the installation of the humidor in 2002 with nine, and there is still more than half the season to play! Kendrick now holds a 6.07 ERA on the season and the Rockies are 4-12 in his 16 starts this season. They gave him a $5.5 million contract before the season, but it’s hard not to wonder how much longer the club is willing to watch this kind of performance from him. Even if they aren’t ready to promote top prospect Jon Gray just yet, there are guys like John Lannan in Triple-A who have performed well and are likely to be better than what the Rockies have gotten from Kendrick to this point.

Now it’s time for our weekly look at the Rockies standout performers in the player of the week, pitcher of the week, and longest home run of the week. You can always take a look at a running leaderboard of the player and pitcher of the week, as well as the five longest home runs of the season over on the right-hand side of the screen!

If there was ever an easy call for player of the week, this is it. Arenado was absolutely on fire this week as he mashed seven home runs in just six games. His 367 wRC+ over the past seven days is not only the best among Rockies players, it’s the best in the Major Leagues. Take a look at one of his multi-home run games from this week against the Diamondbacks:

Longest Rockies home run of the week: Nolan Arenado – 447 feet

Just one of a whopping seven home runs this week for Arenado, this one was also the third longest home run hit by a Rockies player this season. This one tied up the game at 1-1 in an eventual 6-4 Rockies win. Take a look and enjoy!

Pitching was, to be kind, not the strong suit of the Rockies this week. There weren’t too many options here, so Scott Oberg wins pitcher of the week for his three scoreless relief appearances. There’s no video of any of them available, but I promise he didn’t give up any runs.

That’ll do it for week 12. The Rockies continue to slowly slide further and further out of the race and the trade deadline is steadily approaching, making it more and more likely that they sell off some pieces as they look to the future. Be sure to look ahead to week 13 and subscribe, like View from the Rooftop on Facebook, and follow on Twitter.